Hello Again
Hello again. I am very excited about another new school year and writing to you again. Our school here in the US has already begun the school year on August 16. There are some exciting things this year I would like for you to know about:
1. The Year of Faith and the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict will open a holy Year of Faith from October 11, 2012 to November 24, 2013. He wants us to reexamine the richness of our faith and how it directly affects our lives.
2. Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha will be canonized a saint on October 21, 2012. She will be the first Native American (we used to call them Indians) to be canonized.
3. The parish here in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, will be celebrating our 150th anniversary.
In the fall of 1872, (during the time of the cowboys and Indians), St. John the Baptist parish was established for the Catholic immigrants from Europe. Twenty years later another parish, Holy Rosary, was also established. Now the two parishes have been combined to form the current Holy Spirit parish.
Each, in its own way, affects people’s lives. It is important that we take time to look back at how God has worked in the lives of people who lived before us and how we have been enriched because of them.
1. How many generations of Catholics are there in your family?
2. When was your parish formed? How many buildings have there been since then?
3 What are the names of the priests that have served the parish?
4. How many priests and religious brothers and sisters came from the parish?
5. Ask the same questions if you were going to a Catholic school.
6. Are you related to any priests or religious? What were their stories? Any of them declared saints by the Church?
Except for a few unusual students, young people have a difficult time grasping history. Time is such a funny thing. And when it comes to history, it is just such a long time ago. It does not seem to have any connection with a young person’s life. EVERYTHING happened SO LONG AGO, definitely before you were born. Yet, history is what makes the PRESENT possible. Someone once wrote: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God's gift, that's why we call it the present.” I think it is a very good saying to remind ourselves that what we do with today will be tomorrow’s history. By looking back into history and seeing how it has benefited us now, we could have more incentive to give a little extra effort for the good of the future.
The Church actually teaches us, in the 4th Commandment, that we are responsible for those who follow us. In the 7th Commandment, we are to hand on to those who follow, what is given to our care. It is in this same vein, that we should look at the legacy of our faith. It is not just a gift for ourselves so that we can get to Heaven. We also have a responsibility to pass on the faith. This is what it means to evangelize, to share the Good News of Jesus.
